Daily news and top headlines for manufacturing professionals

Honda Motor Company has announced extended production cuts at plants in Indiana and Canada amid continued shipping delays on the West Coast. The Japanese automaker had previously announced a 20,000-vehicle production cut at its North American plants between Feb. 16 and Feb. 23. The company said...

The U.S. government says it will fine Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. $14,000 per day for failing to fully cooperate in an investigation. Takata's air bag inflators can explode with too much force, spewing shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least six people have been killed worldwide due...

While the food market may contain more fruits, veggies and other healthy options than ever before, a new study says the world is still hungry for junk food. The study, which was paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Britain's Medical Research Council, was published in the Lancet Global Health journal as part of an ongoing obesity...

Nevada lawmakers on Thursday were hearing details of a number of widely supported tax abatement bills that legislators say will create better paying jobs in the state. Senate and Assembly members held a joint committee hearing on SB93 and AB161, which would expand tax abatements to the aerospace...

A California oil refinery unit that was damaged by an explosion was already offline for unplanned maintenance when the fire occurred, industry analysts said Thursday. The so-called fluid catalytic cracker unit refines gasoline and is critical to producing California-grade fuel. The unit had been offline for two days because of problems when a different piece...

The U.S. government is investigating how Caterpillar has been moving cash between its business units in the U.S. and overseas, the construction equipment company said Wednesday. Caterpillar said it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on Jan. 8 that asked for...

Wal-Mart has announced it will give raises to 500,000 employees this year, representing about 40 percent of the 1.3 million workers at the country's largest private employer. The company said hourly workers would earn at least $9 per hour beginning in April, and that all current employees would earn at...

One of Brazil's two nuclear reactors has been disconnected because of a flaw in a condenser that cools the steam used by the plant's electric power generator. Eletronuclear that operates the Angra Nuclear I power plant in the coastal city of Angra dos Reis in the state of Rio de Janeiro says on...

Manufacturers in the Philadelphia area expanded at a slower rate in February compared with the previous month. New orders have slipped, although shipments and hiring have improved. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday that its index of regional factory activity fell to 5.2 this...

An index designed to predict the future health of the U.S. economy rose in January by the smallest amount in five months, indicating the economy's momentum may have slowed a bit. The New York-based Conference Board says its index of leading indicators increased 0.2 percent in January, the weakest gain since...

The union representing thousands of Canadian National Railway Company employees says it is considering a strike vote as labor issues persist among the country's largest rail operators. The contract between the Unifor union—which represents about 4,800 mechanical, clerical and intermodal workers—and CN Rail, the country's largest rail company, expired...

A federal bankruptcy judge this week heard arguments from consumers who are suing General Motors, saying their cars dropped in value because of a defect with its ignition switches. Attorneys for GM and several groups of plaintiffs argued before Judge Robert Gerber in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for...

Samsung is buying mobile-payment startup LoopPay as the Korean phone maker steps up to challenge Apple and its payment system on iPhones. The deal strengthens speculation that Samsung Electronics Co. plans to include mobile-payment technology in its next major phone, which is expected to be...

Officials say a business is recalling about 4,300 pounds of pork sausage products in Michigan due to mislabeling and an undeclared allergen. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall late Tuesday by Bay City-based Michigan Brand Inc. There are no reports...

The Barefoot Contessa says in a lawsuit that a California company sold unauthorized look-alikes of her frozen dinners. Newsday says Ina Garten sued OFI Imports Inc. on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The host of the Food Network's "Barefoot Contessa" cooking show filed...

Billionaire Warren Buffett's company unloaded its 41 million shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. and sold a smaller stake in ConocoPhillips as oil prices fell last fall. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. filed an update on the stocks it held at the end of 2014 with the Securities and Exchange Commission...

The oil train that exploded in West Virginia met the industry's voluntary 2011 safety standards, but a growing number of accidents has the Obama administration considering tougher rules for tank cars. A look at what's rolling on U.S. rails...

This week's Manufacturing Snapshot of the Week is an image of the fire caused by the February 16th train derailment near Charleston, West Virginia. The train was carrying 3 million gallons of North Dakota crude oil, and the derailment sent fireballs into the sky and burned down a nearby...

The U.S. Labor Department's Producer Price Index decreased by 0.8 percent in January, the third consecutive monthly decline and the largest drop since the statistic debuted more than five years ago. The index, which measures changes in prices received by producers for domestically-made goods, was largely...